Ralph wiiitley



N0. 608,8l6. Patented Aug. 9, I898. R. WHIT'LEY.

SWIVEL BATTEN AND SHUTTLE FOR LDOMS.

(Application filed Mar. 12, 1897.)

(No Model.)

nrrnn S'ra' rns PATENT r tion.

RALPII WIIITLEY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOSEPH FAIRHURST, OF SAME PLACE.

SWIVEL BATTEN AND SHUTTLE IFORLOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 608,816, dated August 9, 1898.

Application filed March 12, 1897. Serial No. 627,257. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern- Be it known that I, RALPH NHITLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Swivel Battens and Shuttles for Looms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of'the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is an improvement in the construction of the swivel batten and its corresponding shuttles as they are known in the silk-weaving industry to-day.

In order to more thoroughly understand wherein my mechanical improvements consist and how they eifect the woven fabric, it will be necessary to review that part of the silk-weaving industry relating to weaving by means of the swivel action, so that not alone the mere innovation in the mechanical construction may be understood, but so as to fully and clearly bring the object of my invention to the public-viz., that of introducing the art of embroidery into woven fabrics simultaneously with the weaving.

Swivel-weaving, as it now is known, is an imitation of embroidery, but to the present day a very limited and imperfect imitation. The reason for this is that a certain space occupied by the shuttle could not possibly be covered by swivel-work. Consequently the first and principal aim of my invention was to reduce that uncovered space in the fabric as much as possible. I have gained not alone a reduction of that space, but by the peculiar and entirely novel construction of the shuttles and their movement in the batten relative to the same and each other the said space has been so much reduced that what would formerly, even with the smallest possible construction of a shuttle,

still remain an open space all the way longitudinally through the fabric now disappears entirely, so that no channels or spaces will be visible, because by means of the close proximity of the shuttles to each other the whole fabric will be homogeneous in its design-'in other words, will appear as if it had been subjected to the operation of an embroidering-machine. In saying this I define still more clearly the object in my invention-viz. that by my improved swivel mechanism I can during the process of the weaving introduce that e1nbroidery-work which heretofore had to be done by a special embroidering-machine after the fabric had left the silk-loo1n.

It wi 11, after the foregoing explanation, now be plainly understood that designs can be woven into the fabric at any point lengthwise or breadthwise, inasmuch as a breadthwise continuous design can be interwoven throughout the whole surface for a certain length, afterwhich the swivel action can-be stopped and then continued farther down, which will find a ready application for borderwork on silk skirts, table-covers, &c. Last but not of least importance is the fact that on account of the reduced spacing between the individual patterns more color can be introduced. This I can illustrate very plainly by stating that, for instance, in a piece of fabric twenty inches broad it was possible by the old style of swiveling only to weave nine figures, whereas with myimproved swivel mechanism thirty-six figures canbe woven in, and consequently it is possible on the same space to introduce more colors as well as designs, the result being that it will open the door for richer and more varied patterns both in design and color by very much cheaper means.

In describing my invention I shall call attention to the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters of reference indicate correspond ing parts in the different views, and wherein- Figure 1 shows a front view of myimproved swivel mechanism; Fig. 2, an enlarged view of one end of my mechanism; Fig. 3, an end view of Fig. 2; Fig. 4:", a sectional viewpn line at a: of Fig. 2, showing one of the teeth A of the swivel-beam; and Figs, afront view of Fig. 4; Fig. 5, a top view of the spacing-bar II shown in Fig. 2 Fig. 6, a top view of the spacing-block L; Fig. '7, an end view of the spacing-block shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8, an end view of the spacing-bar; Fig. 9, a front view of my improved swivel-shuttle Fig. 10,

a side view of the same; Fig. 11, a top view aforementioned points of the teeth.

of my improved shuttle as shown in Fig. 9; I and, finally, Fig. 12 is a sketch of the old* style of swivel batten and shuttles, inserted for the sake of clearness in explaining the difference between the old and new style of swivel-batten.

in Fig. 1, A indicates what is known as the swivel-batten, which is connected by arms 0 and O to the loom, as usual. The upanddown motion, consisting in letting it down. into and drawing it up out of the shed, is performed by the usual mechanical means. Furthermore, the right-and-left movement of the j old swivel-shuttle-actuating rack, similar in its operation to my swivel-shLittle-actuating;

bars 13 and B is operated in the customary manner by means acting on the lugs P and P giving them an alternating right and left 1 movement. familiar in looms and as the whole combina- As these two motions are old and tion of mechanical means causing them to exist in several kinds of looms form no part of my invention and have,further,been found subject for improvements protected by Leti ters Patent at various times the above al-j .lusion to them will be sufficient for my pur- Q pose.

My improved swivcl-batten A is cut out on thejlower ed ge,turningtoward the fabric with tooth-like indentations called A A A A, and so on.

Said teeth, as seen in the illus-a trations, are pointed at the bottom, so thatthey may easily part the Silk threads, andthe space between each pair of teeth is for the reception of the silk threads parted by thei Taking one of these as an example of them all-for instance, A (shown separately in Fig. 4- )it"i will be seen that it has a groove 0, said groove being partly closed at the top in front by thei part D,whieh, as will appear later, acts as a guide for the shuttles.

Moving on the front face of the swivel-batten A are the shuttle-ac- Z tuatin g bars 13 and Biwhich, being each f u rnished with two slots, respectively F F and F F, are held up against the batten by means I of screws E E and E E having disks G G and G G lying, respectively, between their;

individual screw-heads and the batten.

The bars l3 and B are furnished with prongs l :3 and B each of which prongs (see Fig. 2) f has two holes, said holes admitting, respec-f tivel y, pins B and B secured to the spacingbar Ii and B and B to the spacing-bar I1 7 (see Fig. 1,) both of which spacing-barsmove By the aid of these eonnecti ing means it is apparent that the bars B" an d B and the spacing-bars move together as in the groove 0.

one part. The said spacing-bars H and II have each an inclined surface I, as best seen in Fig. 5, the function of which element will be explained later on.

On each of two latof the batten and conformed to the groove C so as to move in it are two spacing-blocks L and L Moving in the groove 0 of each of the batten-teeth is a shuttle, one shuttle corresponding to each tooth, consequently M in A, M in A M in A and so on. As they are exactly alike the description of one will suffice for them all, and i will therefore proceed to describe the shuttle M depicted in a front View in Fig. 9, as it is seen in Fig. 1, a side view shown of it in Fig. 10, and a top View in Fig. ll. Said shuttle will be seen td consist of two main parts-a front part Q and a rear inside part Q. The front part Q is pear-shaped at the top, constructed so as to correspond to the lower part of the teeth A and for the same purposeviz., to present a good sliding surface for the threads, so that no thread can be caught or held by it, resulting in the same number of threads being maintained on each side of the tooth after the shuttle has passed from one tooth to another. I The rear part Q is shaped so as to conform to the groove C, having to that effect a groove Q that has the part D, or, as it might be called, the guide D,of the teeth A moving in it to steady it and guide it from one tooth to another. Projecting from the front part Q is a pin It, having a loose sleeve S mounted thereon. Finally, the bobbin or reel T, having the silk wound on it, is mounted on the sleeve S, and in order to secure said bobbin on the sleeve a wire U is attached between the front part Q of the disk R and bent, as illustrated, so that at the j same time it regulates the unwinding of the thread it also has a tendency to keep the bobbin on the sleeve.

The operative method of the i above described elements is as f ollows: It will be readily seen that in order to move the shuttles back and forth through the silk web new operative means have been introduced. In this fact lies my reason for calling the elements 13 and B swivel-shuttle bars and not a swivel-shuttle rack, inasmuch as the term rack denotes a mechanical element furnished with teeth, in which case the shuttles were also furnished with teeth, and pinions lying intermediate between the shuttle-rack and the teeth in the shuttles actuated the shuttles. Other means are also employed to move the shuttles back and forth-for instance, one single pin is fastened to each shuttle, which pin forms part of the swivelactuating rack. By these latter means the shuttles are moved in the sketch shown in Fig. 12.

The main constructional point in my invention can consequently be sought in the above statement, it being this-that based on the distinctive and peculiarconstruction of each of my improved swivel-shuttles all of the sh uttles will move simultaneously to the right and to the left when a motive power is applied to the end shuttle on each side. ment is administered by my improved swivelshuttle bars B and B The next important step in my construction is the support of these mutually-cooperativc shuttles in some new form of batten. This improved batten A has, as described above, a row of teeth,

each of which teeth supports in its groove 0 a shuttle, and the distance for the shuttle to travel is consequently the distance marked Y in Fig. 2, from the center of one tooth to the center of another. It will now be clearly understood what is meant by the reduction of space alluded to in my preamble and how no longitudinal spaces or channels will be' visible in the fabric, but, on the contrary, that a design can be spread evenly throughout the whole fabric, simplybecause the space occupied by the shuttle has been so far re duced that the resultingbare channels on the fabric become too small to attract attention.

The smallest shuttle known in the old style of swivel-weaving occupied a space of at least one and three-quarters inches, whereas my shuttle occupies a space of less than half an inch and can be constructed on a smaller scale, if it should be desired, the mere diinishing of any of the dimensions in my improved swivel mechanism of course not altering my inventive idea. Lying between the arms 13 and B of the swivel-shuttle-aetuating bars 13 and B and the extreme shuttle at each end are the two spacing-bars H and H and the spacing-blocks L and L and acting on the respective arms 13 and B are, furthermore, springs J and J If new a power be applied simultaneously to the right and left lugs P and P and the batten be sunk into the web, the natural result will be that taking a movement from the left side to the right side in Fig. 1 the bars 13 and B will be moved in the direction of the arrowhead V, the arm B will act on the spacing-bar ll, attached to it by means of pins B and B, which in its turn will act upon the spacing block L, and L will move the adjacent shuttle A, A will move A A- A and so on the whole row through. The space moved will consequently be, as before stated, just the space Y from one center to another. If there were no spring J 2 at the other end when the bar 13 caused the shuttles to move from left to right, a complete standstill of the shuttles or a dead stoppage of these would be the result and no revibration between them would be perceptible, but each shuttle would stop where its companion left it, and as that might happen to be out of the center line of the tooth it might cause confusion in the web, and the threads might be caught by the shuttles when drawn up again for another pick. To obviate this, the reciprocating springs J and J are provided, so that, alluding to the abovedcscribed action in the direction of the arrow- This moveited, of course, by the length of the slits F and F it is given an elastic reactionary movement by the spring J At this point the inclined surface I on the spacing-barl'l comes into play simultaneously with the action of the spring K pressing against said surface. If this spring K did not exist, the action of the spring J 2 would throw the shuttles too far back; but as the spring K rests on this inclined surface the sudden action of the spring J 2 is broken. As the lowest part of the inclined surface is gradually forced in under the spring K it will readily be seen that any sudden reaction on the shuttles is avoided; but by this last action a touch has been administered to the spacing-block L enough to send it over toward the shuttles, which will permit them to adjust themselves, so that by means of the threads contacting with the shuttles oval sides as they are drawn out of the Web they will settle back again toward the spacing-block U, which said block permits, as a space has been provided for between the spacing-block and the spacing-bar for that purpose. YVhen these different parts are constructed and fitted to each other in the abovedescribed manner, it has been found by actual experiment that the shuttles will rescttle themselves after each movement of the swivel shuttle bars 13 and B back and forth, so that the center point of the front part Q, on each shuttle will be in the center of each teeth of the batten A. If this movement on the part of the swivel shuttle bars B and B be con= tinned back and forth, the thread on the spool T will be woven into the fabric between the teeth A, A and A and so on, in the swivel batten A, which was the desired object I had in view.

In conclusion I might add by way of eluci-= dation, taking the sketch of the swivel batten and shuttles illustrated in Fig. 12 as an average example of the swivel-batten now used, that when observing the space between the shuttlesin Fig. 12, (marked VV,) representing in actual measurement two inches, for instance, and comparing it with the one-half inch space referred to before between the centers of each pair of shuttles in my improved batten (marked lV) the reduction in space referred to is sclf evident.

That various minor constructional details in my improved swivel-batten may be altered and improved upon without disturbing my inventive principle of separate, loose, and mutually contacting coacting shuttles is apparent-for example, the springs J and J 2 may be subject to improvements and other means might be found more practical than the spacing-bar and block system here dcscribed.

Having thus described my improved swivelbatten and swivel-shuttles, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A. batten having a series of loose, mu-= tually contacting and coacting shuttles, hill,

early arranged with regard to each other, suitably supported in said batten, and means operating on the end shuttles of the series for the purposes as set forth.

2. A series of loose, mutually contacting and coacting shuttles, linearly arranged with regard to each other, a batten furnished with a series of teeth having guiding-grooves supporting the shuttles, a shuttle-shifting bar,

springs acting on said bar and means to move and coacting shuttles, linearly arranged with regard to each other, a batten having thread gathering and confining spaces cut out in the lower edge thereof, and a guiding-groove supporting the shuttles, a shuttle-shifting bar sooured to the batten, a right and left arm depending from said shifting-bar, a bufferspring acting on each of said arms, a spacing-bar secured to each shuttle-shifting-bar arm, springs controlling said spacing-bars, spacing-blocks moving in the batten-groove lying between the spacing-bars and the end shuttles, for the purposes as set forth, substantially as described.

5. The combination in a loom of a swivelbatten having downward projecting parts terminating in a smooth, pointed apex, thread gathering and confining spaces furnished between each two projections, a guiding-groove for the swivel-shuttles running throughout the length of the batten-beam, said guidinggroove having an upper guide, a swivel-shuttle-operating bar secured to the swivel-batten, means to move it, contacting swivel-shuttles adapted to move in the guiding-groove of the swivel-batten, bobbins suitably supported on each shuttle, for the purposes as set forth, substantially as illustrated and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of August, 1896.

RALPH WIIITLEY.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL MORTE, ANDREW DE GREEN. 

